Bluebird
by Gertthesquirt101
Summary: A spin-off of my books, Her New Life and Rolling in the Deep  I suggest you read those to understand this one . Massie, Claire, and Alicia's kids have grown up and are all attending the same boarding school for talented teens. Get caught up in the drama.
1. Chapter 1 All These Things That I've Don

**Bluebird**

**Okay so this is a spin-off of my series, Her New Life (and the second book, Rolling in the Deep). If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you go do so, so you know what's going on :)**

**Massie & Josh's Kids:**  
><strong>Aubrey- 18<strong>  
><strong>Alex- 18<strong>  
><strong>Devon- 15<strong>  
><strong>Kristen- 7<strong>

**Alicia & Cam's Kids:**  
><strong>Sam- 16<strong>  
><strong>Ruth- 15<strong>

**Claire & Landon's Kids:**  
><strong>Winnie- 16<strong>  
><strong>Lenny- 15<strong>

**One more thing. This is set in the future, but I ain't creative, so the technology and all is still the same.**

* * *

><p>Chapter One<br>All These Things That I've Done

The PC have grown apart. Massie lives in Rhode Island, Claire lives in Florida, and Alicia lives in California. Massie has been married to Josh for 14 years now. Alicia and Cam live together, but have said that they will not get married. Claire and Landon were married for 5 years and then divorced. Without knowing it, they have sent: Aubrey, Devon, Sam, Ruth, Winnie, and Lenny to a high elite boarding school in London, England.

* * *

><p>"Aubrey, how much longer?" Devon asked.<p>

Aubrey looked away from the window and at her iPhone. "Just ten more minutes. We should be landing soon."

Once they finally landed, their bags were dropped off. School of the Highly Intelligent Gifted, had its own airline where it went around the world to pick up highly intelligent kids. Kids with amazing talents. It wasn't an all around talent school, only just those that exceeded in the arts (acting, singing, dancing, and instruments).

A lady with a gray pencil skirt and her hair up in a tight bun, came up to them.

"Hello, last names, please?"

"Michaels," Aubrey said.

"Thank you." she checked something on the clipboard and told them to walk with her. "I am Ms. Adams. I am the Headmaster and I also teach English. A few of the other students have arrived and I will escort you to the Dining Hall while we wait for the others to show."

They made their way into the castle-looking school and into the Dining Hall. There were four tables that seated 25 students each.

"Please just pick a seat to down for now. You will be separated into what your gift is once everyone arrives." Ms. Adams said.

They all sat down together, waiting for the other kids to arrive. There was food scattered on the tables and the teens were chatting, asking what their gift was.

* * *

><p>Winnie pulled her blonde hair back and grinned at her brother, Lenny. "Aren't you excited?"<p>

He looked at her and rolled his eyes. He didn't want to come to this thing. Ever since his parents divorced he wasn't as happy as he was before. He didn't even want to come to this place, but his mom said that his gift was too special to give up.

Once they arrived at HIG, a lady who introduced herself as Ms. Adams took them to the Dining Hall. They sat down as more and more kids filed in. Winnie noticed a bunch of boys crowding around a pretty girl with Carmel brown hair and Amber eyes. She rolled her eyes.

After a while, two kids came in, Winnie looked up. A boy around her age and then a girl, but her eyes didn't linger on the girl for long. They landed on the boy. He had black hair that was swept to the side. He had piercing blues eyes. Wait. No. As he came closer she noticed that one was blue and the other was green. He kept coming closer and closer until he was right in front of her.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked.

Winnie cleared her throat, "Uh... No. I mean, it will be if you sit there." she smiled.

He laughed and sat down. "I'm Sam."

"Please to meet you, I'm Winnie. And this," she pointed to her brother. "Is Lenny."

Lenny looked up at Sam and frowns. He sees the girl next to him and raises an eyebrow. Winnie noticed his sudden interest.

"Who is your sister?"

"Oh, this is Ruth."

"Hi," the gorgeous girl said. She had thick brown hair and the same eyes as her brother. Lenny nodded at her.

"So... What is your gift?" Sam asked.

Winnie pulled her hair behind her shoulders. "I sing."

"Cool. So, like, what kind of genre?"

"Opera. What about you?"

"I play the Sax. And Tuba. And trombone, trumpet, and harmonica." he answered, grinning.

"That's cool. So you're like, a musical prodigy?"

Suddenly, the pencil skirt lady stood up and walked to the podium. "Welcome students. I am Ms. Adams. I will be your headmaster, or principal, for those that live in the states. I will be separating you guys into groups of ten according to what your gift is. I will ask all of you to stand up and walk to the front of the room in one line." everyone did so and she walked down to them. She stood in front of each of them and asked their talent. Once they gave an answer, she would mark something on her clipboard and then give them a table number.

"Name and Talent please?" she asked Winnie.

"Winnie Crane, Opera."

"Alright, please go sit at table 3, Singing."

Winnie walked over and sat down with 6 other students. Lenny was quickly put into the Acting group. Winnie smiled at Sam over at Musical Instruments and wiggled her fingers. He grinned and nodded.

* * *

><p>Aubrey stood, waiting for Ms. Adams to call on her.<p>

"Name and Talent?"

"Aubrey Michaels, Dance."

She pointed her out to a table and moved onto Devon.

"Devon Michaels, Dance."

Once Devon was sitting down, she looked around for the guys that were talking to her before.

* * *

><p>"Ruth Fisher, dancing."<p>

She was directed to a table. She watched from afar as Winnie and her brother exchanged looks. It was weird for her. She looked over at the actors section and saw Lenny watching her, she smiled to herself.

"Okay, now that you are all put into your groups, I will explain the rules. This is a school; therefore you will have the normal classes that you would have if you were at home. But, your education around here is second to your talents. We are here to help you prefect your gifts on the arts. Only 100 students are accepted here a year, you all have the privilege of being apart of that 100. Here at this school, you will have class with students outside of your groups, but you will be living in the same rooms as the group you are in right now. You will have bunk mates and it is separated into two rooms. Boys and girls. This is HIG, and the staff and I welcome you. Please push yourself and we will help you broaden your talents in the arts." Ms Adams sat down and instantly people in white uniforms came in with silver plates and platters. Hundreds of platters and plates were put in the middle of the tables. Everyone dug in.

Ruth reached for the plate of barbecued chicken. She started to pile some of it onto her plate when a voice interrupted her.

"Do you really think you should be eating that that?"

Her head shot up and she looked at the guy who had said it. He was sitting directly in front of her. He had an olive complexion and dark brown hair. His green eyes were piercing.

"Why should I not be?" she inquired.

"You're in dance, right?"

"Um, yeah. Other wise I wouldn't be at this table."

"No need to get smart. But, if you are in dance, you really should watch your calorie intake. Dancers should be slim and fit."

"Are you saying that I'm not slim?"

"No, you look quite healthy... although you could go with losing a couple of pounds. Maybe ten." he smirked.

She gasped and looked down at her flat stomach. "I do not!"

"Suit yourself."

Ruth nodded shortly and took a huge bite of chicken. He winced and turned away from her.

"That's Devon."

Ruth turned around to a girl that was sitting next to her. She had Carmel brown colored hair and amber eyes. She really was gorgeous. Ruth remembered seeing a bunch of boys surrounding her when she walked in. She didn't really blame them.

"He's my brother; and a bit of a prat. I'm Aubrey by the way. What kind of dance do you do? I'm in ballet."

Ruth smiled. "I'm Ruth. I do contemporary, hip-hop, and jazz." She noticed that when she said that, Devon looked up at her for a split second. Aubrey noticed it too.

"Hey, that's what Devon does, don'tcha Devon?"

He rolled his eyes and continued talking with the guy that was sitting next to him.

"Yeah... He's a definite prat." Ruth laughed.

* * *

><p>After everyone was done eating, they were escorted to their rooms. They walked up plenty of staircases and past plenty of rooms until each group found their rooms. Each group has a common room (AN: I am NAWT stealing any of this from Harry potter, I just can not find another name for it, so please, don't hate on it. I mean... I guess you could if you wanted to :p), and then separate rooms for boys and girls. The bedrooms were large and spacious.

Devon walked into the boy's room and set his stuff down at a bed. He walked down the small staircase to the common room. He rounded the corner at the end of the staircase and ran smack into Ruth.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry-" she looked up and saw that it was Devon. "Oh, its you." She said shortly.

"Yup, it's me, in the flesh. Ruth right?"

"Um… yeah. You told me that I was fat, remember?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, okay I do remember you. The diet of fatty chicken is not working for you, by the way."

"The air of snootiness and arrogance that you have is not working either." She said back to him.

"Cute, work on your comebacks though." Devon said, pushing past her. He walked over to the couches and sat down, next to the kid that he was talking to at dinner.

"Hey Mike."

"Dude, you totally just called off the hottie of the group. You know that right?"

"My sister is better looking than her." Devon said dryly. As if on cue, Aubrey strutted by. Mike's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"I can't wait to see her dance," he muttered to Devon.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay! Bluebird is finally here . I already love this story, so I should have frequent updates. I'm going to say right here and now, this school has the concepts of Hogwarts. I don't really want it do, but like I said, I'm not creative. It looks like Hogwarts, and they wear school uniforms (gray skirtsslacks, white button down shirts, and red ties. Blazers are optional). They have common rooms, and then separate dorms for boys and girls.**

**I really hope all of my fans from Her New life and Rolling in the Deep are impressed :D. If you are new, I hope that you like it as well.**

**Here is what everyone in this story looks like/cast:**

**Aubrey: Carmel brown hair, amber eyes- Quinn Paul**

**Devon: olive complexion, dark hair, green eyes- Chad Duell**

**Sam: Black hair and blue-green eyes- Jake T. Austin**

**Ruth: Dark brown hair and blue-green eyes- Hayley Kiyoko**

**Winnie: blonde hair, blue eyes- Skyler Samuels**

**Lenny: blonde hair, brown eyes- Andy Pessoa**

* * *

><p><strong>singers: Winnie,<strong>

**Dancers: Devon, Aubrey, Ruth**

**Actors: Lenny,**

**Musical Instruments- Sam**

* * *

><p><strong>Hopefully all that info matches what was said in the story XD<strong>

**I know that all the ages with the kids do NOT match what they were in Rolling in the Deep, and I apologize. I had to changes the ages so that they'd be closer in age :P if that makes ANY sense. **

**Review, please! And tell me who your fav characters are!**


	2. Chapter 2 Blue Monday

**Chapter Two **

**Blue Monday**

Ruth woke up the next day and sat up in her bed. She looked around and noticed that the room was empty. She silently cussed to herself and pulled her shirt over her tank top and pulled her skirt on. The uniforms were red and black, with knee stockings and ties. The guys got away with just black slacks and a white button shirt, and of course, the tie. Ruth pulled her tie over her head and found her dancing bag. She didn't quite understand whuy the dancers had to dress up, and then dress back down into sweats and tank tops.

She ran down to the Great Hall and saw everyone sitting at their tables. She silently sauntered off to the "Dancers." She caught Lenny's eye and he waved, his face red. She grinned and waved back as she sat down.

"Having a boyfriend only gets in the way of you're dancing," A voice she recognized, and would soon learn to hate said.

Ruth turned completely around in her seat, and came face to face with Devon. "Look, I love dancing. But, I'm not going to allow it to take over my life… kinda of like how you have."

"Dancing is my life, sweetie. That's why I'm here… Why are you here, again?"

"To dance, stupid. And eat, but only because it makes you so mad." She winked and took a big bite of scrambled eggs.

"Actually, your eating doesn't make me mad. It just means that I have a better chance of staying at this school than you do."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"You will, if you keep eating." Devon smirked.

"What are you talking about?"

"The competition, duh. Only one winner..." Ruth stared at him blankly, having no idea what he was talking about now.

He sighed, "You never read the handbook, obviously."

Ruth shook her head.

"If you can't shine your best through the rest, you don't deserve to be here." He said, as if quoting straight from the handbook. "It has a double meaning… if you fail, you go home."

"Surely not," Ruth said, rolling her eyes.

"Surely yes." And with that, Devon got up and walked to go sit with some friends he had made. Aubrey took his spot.

Aubrey, can I ask you a question?" Ruth asked. Aubrey nodded as she shook her hand away to the guy that was offering her his plate of sausage.

"Um, is this whole thing... Like, a competition? This school? Only one winner and such?"

Aubrey laughed. "No silly."

Ruth blew a sigh of relief.

"But they will kick you out if you don't show your true potential. Now I have to go. Advanced Ballet starts in 5." Aubrey waved a manicured hand and was off.

Ruth glared over at Devon and he mouthed: "I told you so."

* * *

><p>"Okay, when I call your name, please come up and present us with your voice." Ms. Mann said. The singing instructor wore a tight white bun on top of her head, and had already reapplied her lipstick to her crinkly old face three times.<p>

"Albertson, Walter."

A tall, lean boy of about 17 talk up and the piano started to play. Winnie squirmed in her seat, anxious for her turn. 'What if I'm not good enough?' she thought.

Walter started to sing an old jazzed up song. His voice resembled Michael Buble in a way.

Once he was done and two other people were called up, Ms. Mann finally called, "Crane, Winnie!"

Winnie stood up and walked up to the stage. She told the piano man what she was going to be singing and he started playing.

Winnie's operatic voice soon filled the auditorium. It was low, and sweet, and haunting. Winnie kept her eyes closed through the first half of it, afraid of their faces. But nearing the end of it, she opened her eyes and saw their dumb-stricken faces. Ms. Mann wiped away a tear at the end of it and stood up, clapping.

"Good job, Winnie. Look people. Didnt you hear how good that was? That right there is recognizing your talent and working for hours on end. Hours and hours is what Winnie must have put into her voice to make it what it is now." Ms. Mann turned back to Winnie. "Winnie, darling, how long have you known you could sing like that?"

Winnie shrugged. "Couple months I guess," she said quietly.

Ms. Mann's eyes about popped out of her head. "Oh wow. Look kids, that.. That right there is a musical prodigy. Give it up for Winnie, again."

Winnie smiled and bowed shyly. As she walked off the stage, she looked at the teens in the seats. They whispered into each others ears and sent her glares. Winnie looked at her feet as she walked back to her seat.

* * *

><p>The lesson was over and Winnie stood up to gather her back.<p>

"Winnie! Winnie, please stay behind. I would like to talk to you." Ms. Mann said, a big smile on her face. A few of the kids snickered and ran out. Winnie walked out of the aisle she was in and walked over to Ms. Mann.

"Yes ma'am?"

"I was so blown away by your voice. It's beautiful! Have you really only been singing for a couple of months?"

"Yes ma'am," Winnie nodded.

"Thats amazing. And I don't mean to pick favorites or anything, but you are definitely the best singer this year." she winked.

Winnie smiled a thank you.

"Okay, now go! I don't want you to be late to tour next class." Ms. Mann laughed. "Can't wait to see you again tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Lenny walked to the Musical Instruments room. There were already 4 people in there.<p>

"Hey," he said, taking s seat. A few of the kids nodded at him.

There was a blonde girl who possessively sat at the baby grand piano. A boy with headphones on played a bit on the drums. Another boy with long, greasy brown hair ran his hands up and down an electric guitar. The other boy sat alone, in a corner. Lenny was slightly scared.

A short, overweight man of about 45 walked into the room. "Okay kids..." he stopped and put a hand over his heart. "Oh my... There are more kids here. This is the largest class I've had in 9 years."

Lenny looked at him and the other four students. "Are there any more coming?" he whispered to the kid on the drums. He pulled one of them down and had Lenny ask him again.

"Oh. Um, yeah I think so." the kid had a very low voice.

"Why?"

The kid shrugged. "I don't know."

Lenny turned his attention back to the teacher.

* * *

><p>After the teacher freaked out from the size of the class for a couple more minutes, they all distinguished what their musical talent was.<p>

"Let's start with you," Mr. Richards said to the girl at the piano.

She stood up from the piano stool and managed to trip over it. "Hi. Um, I'm, uhhh... my name is Sian." she stumbled out. Sian fidgeted a lot and wiped her nose on her sleeve constantly.

"And what is your talent, Sian?"

Sian managed to spit out that she played piano as she pushed her long, greasy hair out of her face.

"Alright, and now you?" Mr. Richards gestured to the boy with the guitar.

He stood up and pulled the guitar off of his shoulder. "I'm Randy, I play guitar, obviously. I'm known for being the youngest kid ever to be able to play The Flight of the Bumblebee on guitar." Sian's head popped up at the sound of the popular piano song.

"Very nice. And you?"

Lenny stood up. "I'm Lenny. Um, I basically can play anything." he shrugged.

"Anything?" Mr. Richards asked. Lenny nodded. "We'll see about that." he sniffed. Lenny bit his lip.

The kid with the headphones introduced himself as Darren, and he, naturally, played the drums. And the kid that sat in the corner... He just sat in the corner. No one knows his name or what he does.

"I want you guys to come up with a piece on your own. Even though you'll come to class for the rest of the week, don't present it until Friday. Bye!" he called out as the bell rang.

Sian made a break for the door. Lenny tried to catch up to her.

"Hey, Sian, right?" he asked. She looked at him, and then away, nodding. She was holding notebook of hers close to herself.

"Why... Do you know why there are no other members in Musical Instruments? Isn't this school the most sought out for school in the US?" he asked.

"Because, the MI is a joke." she whispered. "No one cares about us."

"Really? Cause-" Sian suddenly took a sharp turn, leaving Lenny mid-sentence.

Lenny sighed. He walked into the dining hall for lunch. He saw Ruth sitting at the Dancers side. He grinned and walked over there.

"Hey Ruth," he said.

Ruth turned around and her face brightened. "Lenny! Hi, here, come sit." she scooted over to make room for him.

"So how has your day been?" Ruth asked Lenny, playing with her hair.

"Eh, it's been alright. I just found out that there are only 4 other members in the MI-"

"MI?" she asked.

"Yeah, the Musical Instruments." she nodded for him to continue "Well, and Apparently, we're considered a joke at this school."

A snort was heard in front of them. Devon sat there, talking to one of his buddies, but Ruth knew he was laughing at their conversation.

"Devon, butt out." she said, annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I just find it funny that your boyfriend is in the MI. I thought they got rid of that back in the 70s." he said, turning to them.

"Lenny's not my boyfriend. And you should really learn to not listen in on others convos." she sneered.

Devon smirked.

"Go on Lenny, and please ignore the self-centered son of a-"

The bell rang to indicate that lunch was over.

"Where are you going next?" Lenny asked Ruth.

"I have my Hip-Hop class next. You?"

"Modern History," Lenny groaned.

Ruth giggled, "Kay, well you have fun." she gathered her stuff and walked out. Lenny watched her go out, and noticed... That Devon was watching her too? He thought that weird because it seemed that they hated eachother. Lenny made it a mental note to watch that kid.

* * *

><p>"I've already told you, boyfriends get in the way of your career." Devon caught up to Ruth.<p>

"Why are you so worried about me? If I fail because I have a boyfriend, that just gives you a better chance at making it farther than me." Ruth said.

"The sad thing is, you're good, Ruth. I've seen you dance, and your almost as good as me. I need some competition here." Devon said calmly.

"We've only been to school for 2 days. When have you seen me dance?" Ruth stopped walking.

"Yesterday, when Ms. Rush made us all 'show what we've got'" he said, making air quotes.

"That's a little weird that you sat there and watched me dance, buddy." she smirked and then walked into the ladies dressing room.

"It's not like you didn't watch me!" he yelled out.

* * *

><p>"Now, I want to see what you can do. I know I said that yesterday, but now, I want to see how you do with others around you. Dance with them. Feel the music." Ms. Rush said. The kids had changed into sports bras, sweatpants, tank tops, and shorts. Ms. Rush played "Why Stop Now" by Busta Rhymes. Some of the kids stood in a stance an tried to keep up withthe beat, but once Busta Rhymes came out and started rapping... some of the kids had never heard the song it seemed. They soon got lost in the rhythm they had. Ruth thankfully had friends that liked to go against thier parents wishes and buy his album on iTunes. They used to listen and make up thier own dance routines to his music. She knew she had this one in the bag.<p>

Ruth looked away from herself in the mirror for a second to see everyone else. She knew this was a no-no, but she wanted to see who she was up against. A girl with golden blonde hair had a good rhythm going. And sadly, the only other one that was spectacualr, was Devon to Ruth's dismay. She looked back at herself and continued what she did best until the songwas over.

"Very good," Ms. Rush said. She had a bit of a French accent and talked very calmly. "Brooke, excellent," she said to the blonde girl Ruth had noticed. "Devon, my my! I get excited to see you everyday, keep that up." Devon nodded, his hands behind his back. "And... Ruth, you lost your rhythm there nearing the end, but good otherwise." Ruth chewed the inside of her cheek. Devon smirked.

* * *

><p>An hour later, they were finally able to go shower and go. Ruth wiped the sweat from her forehead and and grabbed a towel. She walked into the locker room, not paying attention because she was wiping her face with her towel, she accidently walked into the boys locker room.<p>

Only one boy was outside of a shower, drying his hair off, another towel wrapped around his lower body. It was Devon.

"Oh my gosh, Ruth! Get out, you perv!" he yelled. Ruth was dumbstricken, embaressed, she couldn't believe she just did that! The most embarresing part though, was when Devon yelled, he threw his hand in the air... and his towel slipped. Devon franctically scrambled to grab the towel, but missed. Ruth ran out the door, but managed to hit her face on it on the way out.

Face burning, Ruth walked into the girl's locker room and undressed in the shower.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! she yelled to herself. I am never gonna be able to get over this.

* * *

><p>That night at dinner, Aubrey was surrounded by all the guys, as usual. Devon rolled his eyes when Mike said that he'd 'talk to him later'.<p>

Lenny walked in with Ruth. They started making way to the Dancer's table, when Ruth saw Devon. She shook her head and said something to Lenny that Devon couldn't make out. They walked over to the MI table instead. Devon sat, still somewhat embarressed of what happened in the boy's locker room. He prayed to God that Ruth hadn't seen everything.

"I hope you all have had a great first day of school here at HIG." Mrs. Adams called out, over a microphone she held in her hand. Some of the kids yelled out a "YES!" others resumed eating.

* * *

><p>After dinner, Lenny walked Ruth to her common room. "I better get to bed," she said.<p>

Lenny smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "Wanna go out sometime?" he asked.

"I'd like that," she smiled.

"How about of Friday, in honor of surviving a whole week here. We'll have a picnic lunch." he said.

"Sounds like fun, good-night Lenny!" she called as he started walking over to the MI common room.

"Good-night Ruth!" he blew her a kiss and she pretended to catch it. It was cheesey, but hey, Ruth needed something light to end the day.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, hi guys!Idk if anyone caught it, but i made a big mistake... Lenny is supposed to be in MI, in the first chapter, I had him as an actor, and Sam is supposed to be an actor. I sadly, got thier names mixed up. Here's the new and improved list:<strong>  
><strong>Singers: Winnie<strong>  
><strong>Dancers, Ruth, Devon, Aubrey<strong>  
><strong>Actors: Sam<strong>  
><strong>MI: Lenny<strong>  
><strong>im sorry forthat mix-up. Thirteen Reasons Why Rachel Berry Killed Herself will be up today, hopefully! 3 you guys.<strong>

**If you go to my facebook page, there is a contest, if you want to enter it, COMMENT ON THAT PARTICULAR POST THAT DESCRIBES THE CONTEST. If you comment on another post with your answer, it will not count. **

**Also, i apologize for not uploading yesterday or the day before. My computer, e-mail, and iPod have been screwing up and so it became impossible for me to upload (e-mail and iPod are the only ways i can write these stories, sadly). But i hope you enjoy, nonetheless. Go check out my newest story, Pick Me Up When I Have Fallen, and enjoy that one too:)**


	3. Chapter 3 Catch Me

**Chapter Three**

**Catch Me**

Winnie walked into the classroom that was there for the singers. It was Friday and they were finally done with having everyone sing a song in the auditorium. There was one other opera singer in the class but, she was no where near as good as Winnie. There was a total of 25 students. 2 opera, 8 rappers, 5 country, 6 kids were the more chorus type (they sang hymns best and such), and then 3 kids that sang pop/jazz, and 1 rock singer. A pretty blended class.

Ms. Mann clapped her hands and everyone moved to the seats that had their names on them.

"First thing that I would like to talk about is rules. I expect you to respect me, and the others." she eyed them. They nodded. "Second, you must show how good you are at all times. You have been selected to go to this school for a reason. If you choose not to participate or show your true potential, there are consequences."

Winnie chewed the inside of her lip, thinking. What can they do? Kick us out? She laughed to herself.

"There is a big performance that we as a class put on at the end of school. Those that stay here will participate."

The room suddenly buzzed with excitement and anxiety. Those that stay? Is someone leaving?

"This school is a competition. You were not aware of this when you signed up to come here. No one in this room is your friend from now on. The competition has been known to get ugly. Why wouldn't it? The reward is beyond. The singer that come out on top will not only get a $500,000 contract wit the recording company of their choice, but is guaranteed immediate success. Every talk show, magazine, and award show will want you."

"How do we win?" an eager student asked Ms. Mann.

"By simply being your best. But other people in the past have found other ways to win. I do not recommend cheating or backstabbing, but those will not get you disqualified."

Winnie's eyes bugged out. What had she signed up for? She was not a competitor. She like peace and no contention.

* * *

><p>Ruth was the the girl's locker room, putting her hair into a ponytail. The door opened and Devon walked in.<p>

"Dude! Get out, this is the ladies room." she said, watching him through the mirror.

"Relax. I'd think that after what happened to me at the beginning of the week in the boys locker room, seeing you putting your hair up is hardly an offense."

"It could be in my offense that you see me like this. I have a lawyer." Ruth countered.

"I'm sure you do. You seem like a rich girl." he said looking in the showers for something.

"I am not a rich girl!"

Devon pulled the curtain back at one, meeting her eye in the mirror. He raised an eyebrow at her. Ruth rolled her eyes.

"What are you even doing here?"

"Looking for- ah-ha! I found it." he walked out of the shower and branched his hand forward. In his hands was a key on a key ring.

"A key? For what? Getting into the girl's rooms?" Ruth sneered.

"No silly, the girl's rooms aren't locked at night. Believe me," he winked.

"So what is it for?" Ruth sighed.

"A secret." he left the room.

* * *

><p>The contemporary dance teacher was a petite blonde. She was very soft-spoken, but she could dance. She showed them a 15 second piece from "My Heart Will Go On," to show them her best; and you could have heard a pin drop.<p>

"I don't want to see what you can do. I want to actually put you in groups of two and I would like you to make up a dance yourself. If you are really dedicated, that's what you'll do. You will not go onto YouTube and watch a dance and then memorize it. Do you understand?" Ms. Tara asked.

Everyone nodded. Ruth played with the neckline of her shirt that was a couple sizes too big for her.

"I now will put you into groups of two and assign you a song." she stared pairing people up.

"Ruth and... Dan. You're song is Halo by Beyonce."

Ruth walked over to the boy with jet black hair with long strides. "Hi, I'm Ruth."

Dan was a shy kid, he just looked at Ruth and nodded. Ruth bit her lip.

Ms. Tara finished pairing people up before noticing that there was an odd number of students. "Devon..." she said. "I'm sorry to ask you this, but could-"

"Don't worry ma'am, I'm fine with making up a dance on my own." he said, giving her a charming smile.

Ms. Tara blushed. "Oh, no need to call me ma'am. But if you're okay with that..."

He nodded.

"Okay then, I would like you to do the song Innocence by Avril Lavigne." Ms. Tara said.

Devon nodded, "Will try my best," he winked. Ruth rolled her eyes when a couple of the girls in the class practically swooned.

* * *

><p>"Looks like you'll have to deal with dopey Dan," Devon caught up with Ruth in the main hallway. The main hallway had exactly 100 lockers, 50 on each side, all larger than what Ruth was used to back home. Ruth twiddled the lock on hers.<p>

"Shut up Devon. He's not dopey. Just apparently, very shy."

"Call me if you need practice with a real dancer that knows what he's doing." he handed her a card. Ruth looked at it:

Devon Michaels  
>817-405-2878<p>

"Really?" Ruth asked, throwing it behind her shoulder.

Devon shrugged, and then walked off with some of his buddies.

"Hey Ruth," Lenny walked up to her and grabbed her hand. "Where are you headed to?"

"Gym," Ruth groaned.

"Well, I am excited for our date tonight," he said kissing her cheek. Ruth blushed.

"Same here, 8, right?" Ruth asked.

Lenny nodded, and then walked into the Band room, blowing her a kiss.

* * *

><p>"Will everyone please report to the auditorium?" an announcement came over the intercom.<p>

Once Lenny arrived there, their Advanced Arts teachers were there. They separated them into four sections of the auditorium according to their talent.

Lenny looked up and over at Ruth. She was sweating from gym, they apparently hadn't given her time to shower yet. A boy with white blonde hair came over and put his arm around her, whispering something into her ear. Ruth looked at him disgusted and threw his arm off of her shoulder, elbowing him in the ribs. The kid looked pained and while biting his lip, he stood up and walked away. Lenny smirked.

"Okay, well, thank you all so much for making it here on time-" Ms. Adams was cut off short. That same kid that was watching Ruth at the beginning of the week rushed in. His brown hair was rustled and no longer perfectly gelled to the side. His white shirt had been buttoned wrong and his tie was half-hazardly slapped around his neck in an unflattering knot. He had small "bruises" on his neck.

"Thank you for joining us Mr. Michaels." Ms. Adams said. "Please take your seat up there with the dancers." Devon nodded, and panted up to the only available seat; Next to Ruth. Lenny scowled.

"Okay and-" Ms. Adams was interrupted again. A girl from the singers came in. Her appearance matched Devon's in a way. Lenny figured what they had been doing.

"Ms. Applegate, please go take your seat." Ms. Adams was annoyed now.

"As I was saying. We have a new form of technology for you to have. It's a bit like this 'Facebook' that I hear about a lot. It will automatically update updates about those students that have left us. You also get a profile that you are free to update as much as you want. You all have already been programmed into this device and everyone in the school has been added into it, so that you get their updates. If, for any reason, you get kicked out... We will take this away and you will be automatically taken out of everyones device. This," she held up a rectangular black iPhone looking-thing, "Is a Berrie."

The Spanish teacher started to hand them out up and down the rows.

"Your Berrie can be used for so much. So please. Please, use it wisely." she gave some kids a warning look, Devon included.

* * *

><p>"I wonder if I can upload pictures into the Insider." Devon asked himself, talking about the Facebook-type of thing that had all of the kids and teachers programmed into it. "I know of some nice shirtless ones I could put up." he said, watching Ruth out of the corner of his eye.<p>

Ruth took the bait. "Shut up, will you? You are so conceited and incredibly annoying."

"I was just talking to myself. You didn't need to listen." he said smoothly.

Ruth just rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked over to the MI section to sit next to Lenny.

"Gaw, that kid is getting in my nerves." she muttered.

"I'm sorry," Lenny said sympathetically. "But hey, I better go get ready for our date. I'll be at your door in an hour."

Ruth looked at her watch. It was already 7'o clock. She nodded and then stood up and walked out of the auditorium. She fiddled around with her Berrie on the way to the Dancers common room.

Insider was not password protected or anything, which was a little freaky. All of the students were updating, saying things like, "Well, here goes nothin'!" and "Excited to have technology, finally!"

Ruth walked into the girls bathroom next to the Dancers bedroom. She set her Berrie into her pants and then undressed.

After her shower she got dressed in a white sundress and slipped on black flats. She let her wavy hair dry naturally and put on some natural makeup. She quietly sang to herself and sprayed her Japanese Cherry Blossom perfume on her wrist and neck.

Once she was done, she gathered her dirty clothes and walked out. Devon was at the door.

"What is it with you and ladies' rooms?" she asked, walking, Devon caught up with her.

"I'm actually waiting on my date to get out of the shower."

"You know that you can get expelled for hanging out in the girls dormitory," Ruth said. "Not that I'd care or anything."

"Nah, they love me too much." Devon smirked.

"Who is your date?" Ruth inquired. "The same girl that ran into the auditorium after you came in, obviously thinking that those five minutes you had with her were the best of her life?"

"Oh her? No, hon, that was the best that she's ever had. And I last longer than five minutes." he winked and then walked back to wait by the bathroom.

Ruth shuddered and walked back to the girls' room to put her dirty clothes in the hamper that led to the laundry room.

She grabbed her Berrie and walked out. She saw Lenny and hooked her arm into his, surprising him.

"Your early," she said.

"I was excited," he said gripping her arm tighter into his.

They walked out of the school and to the flower garden. Behind the garden was a lake with a red blanket laid out on the grass. A picnic basket and wine glasses were on the blanket.

"Oh my goodness Lenny! This looks amazing!" the sun was setting and looked beautiful next to the lake. They sat down and Lenny unpacked the basket.

Ruth dished herself up some potato salad and took a helping of pork chops and fruit salad. Lenny poured the sparkling grape juice into the wine glasses.

"This is so cool, thank you so much for taking me out Lenny," Ruth smiled. Lenny shrugged.

"Well, I really like you Ruth."

After they were dome with their meal and laughed about some of the immature people at the school, Lenny scooped some Jell-O onto her plate for dessert.

Ruth liked Lenny, he was someone that she could laugh with and be herself. She didn't have to try hard to please him, because he liked her for her.

Once they were finished eating, Ruth scooted over and laid her head on his shoulder, watching the fireflies fly about. The sun had set and the moon was shining.

Lenny turned his head to her and she lifted hers. He leaned in and kissed her lips. Ruth pushed herself into him and he set his hand on her jawline. She lifted her hands into his hair, twirling it in between her fingers. They pulled away and set their forehead against the other, smiling at each other.

Lenny pulled her onto him so that her legs were on either side of his thigh. They continued to kiss, fireflies dancing around them acting like the fireworks they felt.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Ruth woke up in her bed. Lenny had walked her to her room that night after they cleaned up the picnic.<p>

She grinned all day. She grinned while brushing her teeth, grinned while walking down the stairs. She said hi to everyone she passed, even the evil French teacher that only had one eye. She was in such a giddy mood that when she sat down to eat breakfast, she ignored Devon's snide comment about the pancakes she was eating.

Once Lenny walked into the dining room, she stood up and walked over to greet him. Lenny smiled and ran up to her. They embraced each other and Lenny gave her kiss. They walked, hand in hand, to the MI table to eat.

Sian was sitting down and greeted the two. She looked down, a bit embarrassed when Ruth started to talk to her. It was evident that not many people talk to her, much less a popular Dancer.

After breakfast, Lenny walked Ruth to her first class of the day. Ruth sat down in her seat, people buzzing around her.

"Omygoshies! Ruth! Your dating Lenny! Why don't you change your relationship status on Insider!" a bubbly and very loud Actor that spoke as if there were exclamation marks at the end of every one of her sentences, said.

"Um, yeah. I guess I'll do that." Ruth said pulling out her Berrie. The Berrie's were huge hits here, Ruth guessed that since they confiscated their phones and iPods at the beginning of the year, this was like the crack the kids had been waiting for. She went to her profile and changed her relationship status to: "In a relationship with Lenny Crane." she gave the Actor a tight smile, and then her Berrie binged.

"Oo! I just got the notification!" suddenly, all the Berrie's binged in everyones pocket. The kids all got them out and gasped and gossiped some more, saying that the rumours were in fact true!

Ruth's Berrie suddenly binged. It was a message from Lenny.

"I'll change mine too ;)" it said. Everyone else's phone binged a few seconds later.

"Landon Crane is in a relationship with Ruth Fisher."

"You know that you two are the first official relationship here! Right!" the Actor yelled out.

"I guess so," Ruth said getting her homework out from the night before

* * *

><p><strong>So sorry for the wait on this one. This chapter has been finished for awhile, but I haven't had time to put it up. Hopefully you enjoyed, please review, send me a message, whatever you want! -Gert<strong>


	4. Chapter 4 Dance Inside

**Chapter Four**

**Dance Inside**

"Ah-five, six, seh-ven, eight!" Ruth called out to the beats of Halo by Beyonce. She and her partner, Dan, were practicing their piece that Ms. Tara had assigned them.

They had the dance studio to themselves. It was five in the morning; Ruth had suggested that they practice in the early mornings. There was no one up at this hour, giving them an advantage of not having the other students size them up.

"I'm sorry," Dan mumbled when he stepped left instead of right and tripped over himself.

Ruth gave him a tight, patient smile. She believed that Ms. Tara had been testing her, pairing her with the worst dancer at the school.

"You're fine. I think that you are finally started to get it, actually. We've only just started, we still have four hours until we need to be in the Hall for breakfast. We have plenty of time to prefect our dance." she gave him an encouraging smile, but all the while was thinking: We're screwed.

* * *

><p>Devon sat on a rafter on the ceiling of the dance studio, eating an apple. It was now 7:15 on the dot, he had been sitting there watching Ruth and Dan dance for thirty minutes. He did this with all his competitors. He watched, studied, and took in weaknesses and strengths. He smirked when Dan messed up his footwork again and stumbled down to his knees. He had Ruth behind him before he fell and her hands has been traveling down his chest. When he fell, she slid down him, her legs flying over his head. Ruth fell hard on her back and right shoulder two feet from Dan.<p>

"Umpf!" she groaned. She reached her hand to the tiny remote in her bra and pressed pause to the music.

"I-I am so sorry. I just... I'm sorry." Dan stammered out.

Ruth sighed and caught her breath, she turned over to her stomach and then pulled herself up to her knees. "It's alright. How about we call it a day. Go shower."

Dan scrambled up to his feet and awkwardly ran out.

Ruth rubbed her shoulder and gave put a sigh of pain.

Dan cocked his head and munched on his apple. "Torn rotator cuff by the looks of it." he spoke out.

Ruth looked around her, searching for the voice.

"Up here, sweetheart."

Ruth looked up and saw Dan on a rafter on the ceiling. "What the crap?" she stood to her feet and looked at him incredulously. "Are you stalking me?"

"Nope, just looking at my competition." he took the last bite of his apple and then chucked it into the trashcan on the other side of the room. When it landed, he threw up his hands in victory.

"How'd you get up there?" she asked.

Devon pointed to a door at his left. There was a small wraparound of floor space around the top of the room. Doors lined the small hallway.

"Are they locked? is that why you got that key the one day in the girls's locker room?"

"Oh that? No, that key leads to something else." he winked.

"So how did you get up there? There is no staircase that leads up there. Do one of the doors come from the boys's dormitories?"

"So many questions," Devon observed. He had stood up and was jumping from rafter to rafter. Ruth's scream caught in her throat and she held her breath when he slipped and almost fell 50 feet.

"Haha! Nearly made you yell my name, didn't I?" he winked. He made it to the other side of the ceiling and jumped to the hallway with the surrounding doors. He bowed.

Ruth shook her head in disbelief. "You never answered my question."

"What? My performance wasn't enough for you?" he asked with a grin. When she didn't budge he said: "All these doors lead to the headmistress's office."

"And why would you be in there?" Ruth inquired.

"Because sweetheart, even grumpy old headmistress's needs need to be filled." he answered as if she were a child.

"Do not call me 'sweetheart'. And I know you are a man-whore, but I also know that you would never do that kind of thing to the headmistress." Ruth said walking to the side of the room that he was now at.

"You don't know what I do. But no, really? I just know the secret passageway to her office. The doors are covered with curtains, and the curtains are there to act like windows cover the room. In all realness, she hates light. Ever wonder why the academy is so drafty and dim?" Devon asked.

"I honestly never noticed." she looked around, only one window was in the huge dance studio. The dust that flew around it was visible because the lights were off. She realized that this was the only room in the academy that had light fixtures.

"Why no light? Do all of the classrooms only have one small window?" Ruth asked, thinking back on all of her classes.

"The dining hall has two," he held up two fingers.

"Why?"

He shrugged. "I don't know everything, although I come pretty close."

The Wake Up bell rang. They had exactly 60 minutes to be downstairs and in the dining hall.

"Well, I'd like to be on time to something. See you in Geometry." Devon opened one of the doors and disappeared.

Ruth shook her head and walked out.

* * *

><p>After her shower, Ruth pulled on the uniform. She had been late to breakfast for the past two weeks. Anymore, and Ruth would be sent home. After you are late to 15 of any of your classes, you are sent home. In other words, you get 15 chances in each class. Two of her classmates met this predicament last week.<p>

She rushed into the dining hall just as the bell rang, indicating that all that students should be in their appropriate place.

Ruth had just slipped her feet into her shoes and shuffled to her table with her stocking slung over her shoulder. She sat down and began to slide her shoes off and propped one of her feet on the empty side of the bench next her. She began to put her stocking on her leg.

"Too much skin, honey." Lenny suddenly appeared and picked up her leg to sit next to her. He pulled her leg, making her slide closer to him. Lenny lifted her chin and kissed her.

A few of the dancers ooh-ed and ahh-ed, some pretended to barf, one yelled at them to get a room. But the majority of the kids silently wished that they could have a relationship like that.

Lenny's hand traveled farther up Ruth's bare leg, making her already short skirt hike up to mid-thigh. She let her hand fall from his hair and unto his hand to stop him from going farther.

"Not here," she whispered against his lips and then pulled her face from him. He gave her a sad puppy dog look but then grinned.

"Lemme put your socks on for you," he offered extending his hand.

Ruth handed her stockings over and he pulled one over the leg that was still on his lap. Then, he pushed that leg off and turned her around the opposite way to get better access to the other leg. Once he was done he kissed her once more and then started filling his plate with scrambled eggs.

Ruth grinned and took a bite of sausage.

* * *

><p>Winnie sat quietly in Government when Sam suddenly opened the doors.<p>

"Winnie! Winnie! I need to talk to you!" he seemed flustered and like he had been running around.

Winnie stood up and without asking the teacher, walked out.

"What is it?" she asked. He had sweat on his forehead and he was panting. "Have you been running?"

"Look, I need to find Ruth, it's important."

"How can I help with that?"

"This hour is the Sophomore's break hour, and so I figured she'd be with Lenny."

"Why would my brother be with her?" Winnie asked cluelessly.

Sam looked at her in confusion. "You didn't know they were dating?"

"What?"

"Don't you ever check The Insider?" Sam looked over her shoulder and gulped. "I have to go, but please tell Ruth that I'm sorry!" he started to run backwards as he told her this message. "Tell her to win this thing and to give it her all!" he had taken off.

Right on his tail were the "Watchers". The Watchers were sort of like patrons that were stationed at the door of every classroom. They stand there all day and take orders from the headmistress. Whenever something bad happens they are called to regain peace.

Winnie was so confused and she turned to go back into the classroom. Was her brother really dating her best friend's sister?

* * *

><p>Everyone got the message as soon as the bell rang, indicating the end of the 5th hour (it was 2 pm).<p>

"Samuel Fisher has left Highly Intelligent Gifted."

Ruth almost dropped her Berrie when she read it. A scream held back into her throat and tears welled up in her eyes.

People started to whisper. "I wonder what he did?"  
>"He was never late to any classes."<br>"Maybe he was just a bad actor."  
>"Doubt it, he had to be good in order to get into the school."<br>"Drugs? I don't know..."  
>"Must have been drugs. Only reasonable explanation."<br>"Poor Ruth, I wonder how she'll take it."  
>"Shh! There she is... Is she crying?"<p>

Ruth walked to her locker, blinded by her tears. She opened her locker and then suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist. She twirled around and came face to face with Lenny.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's gonna be okay." he said comfortingly. He pushed her hair out of her face as the tears streamed down. She laid her head against his chest.

"Shh, shh, it's okay honey."

"Why would they just make him leave? I mean, he's a lot more talented than a bucket load of the actors here! He's never been late or disrespected his leaders. He's a good kid!" she yelled. "He's my brother," she said in a whisper.

"I know. Honey, I'm so sorry." she pulled away from him and wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

"I'm gonna go ask why." she turned around and slammed her locker shut.

"What? No, Ruth, don't get involved. You might get in trouble." he said.

She was already walking toward Headmistress Adam's office.

Devon sprinted in front of her, blocking her. "Don't."

"I want to find out why he went home!" she shrilled.

"Look at me Ruth! You can not do that! You will get expelled. You are to good to get expelled." he told her.

"Ruth!" Winnie ran towards them.

Ruth remembered that Sam and Winnie were friends. "Do you know anything about Sam? Why did he go home?" she pushed past Devon to get to Winnie.

Ruth was a mess. Hair was sticking to her sweaty face and tears streaming down her cheeks, carrying some dark make-up with it. It scared Winnie a little bit.

"He told me to tell you that he was sorry. He said that you need to try to win this thing." Winnie said softly.

Ruth started crying again and Devon brought her into his arms. "What did he do?" she whispered.

* * *

><p>Ruth sat on the floor of her lyrical dance class. The other kids were stretching before Ms. Tara showed up.<p>

Ms. Tara was the sweetest and most patient teacher at HIG. Every student wanted to do their best and please her.

The bell rang and she emerged from a back office. "Welcome class." she said quietly. "Thank you for getting ahead on your stretches. Now we can have more time for dancing."

Ruth stared straight ahead, not moving.

"Everybody stand up please." Ms. Tara clapped her hands together.

The kids all looked at Ruth and she looked lazily up at Ms. Tara.

"Ruth, please stand up," Ms. Tara asked her nervously.

Ruth slowly got up, no expression etched on her face.

"Okay thank you. Now class, we have a group performance that we are expected to have memorized in 8 days. This is your first test."

A few of the students gasped, but Devon looked bored. He seemed to be saying, "that's all you got?" Ruth continued to stare straight ahead. She had preformed before with only having a week to prepare, so she wasn't worried.

Ms. Tara pressed play with the tiny remote and the music started up, booming through-out around the room. Speakers were set up everywhere, a soft piano played on the track.

"How can you see into my eyes like open doors? Leading you down into my core, where I've become so numb."

The kids all recognized the song and a few smiled in excitement. One girl, whose name was Megan, stepped forward and announced that she had done a dance to this song before and that she would not be hesitant to demonstrate.

"Thank you Megan, but that will not be necessary. I want you all to just be quiet and breathe in the music. Close your eyes and imagine how the dance could look in your eyes." Ms. Tara said.

Devon closed his eyes and smiled. Ruth watched the girls around him out of the corner of her eye. Once he closed his eyes, they took a couple steps closer, then a couple more... then a couple more. Devon opened his eyes once the smell of cheap perfume became too strong. He noticed the girls were closer to him than they were before he closed his eyes. But he played it off cool and even winked at the girl with orange hair. She smiled shyly.

Ruth turned her head to the front and stared straight ahead.

Once the song was over, Ms. Tara began teaching them the first part of what she wanted them to do in the dance.

"Ruth! Please extend your shoulder more! I know you can reach farther than that." Ms. Tara was having them reach back behind them with a straight arm and then come forward with it, falling to their knees.

When she had been practicing with Dan that morning, she had injured her shoulder really bad when she fell. Devon had seen the injury happen and he watched her. She grimaced in pain when she reached back all the way behind her, and then fell forward with it. It was perfect, exactly what Ms. Tara wanted them to do.

"See, I knew you could do it! Kids, that is determination. Keep it up, Ruth," Ms. Tara smiled. Ruth gave her a tight smile, but Devon was sure that he was the only one who noticed the tears forming in her eyes, even though they were on opposite sides of the room.

"Ms. Tara, if I may?" Devon raises his hand. The teacher nodded for him to continue. "It would seem that Ruth has injured her shoulder."

Ruth whipped her head around and glared at him._ What are you doing?_ She mouthed.

_Helping_, he mouthed back.

Ms. Tara walked over to her and grabbed the top of her arm and pulled back slightly. Ruth gave out a gasp of pain.

"Go to the nurse. Do you know where that is?"

Ruth shook her head.

"Devon, please go take her-"

"No, no, that's okay. I can find it!" Ruth said urgently.

"No, it's okay. I don't mind," Devon gave Ms. Tara a famous smile. Ms. Tara nodded at them to leave and then walked back to the front of the room.

Devon offered his arm to Ruth, but she ignored it and kept walking. Once they had left the room she turned to him.

"What is your problem?" she hissed. "Are you trying to make me look weak? You know that I'm just as good as you, if not better, and it kills you! I deserve to be here just as much as you do."

"Whoa, all I did was agree to take you to the nurse." Devon put his hands up as if he were surrendering.

"No! I'm talking about you bringing attention to my shoulder."

"Sweetheart, you are injured. Would you rather keep using it and then not be able to ever preform, or would you rather get it treated and miss one day of practice?"

"You are missing the point! I looked weak back there, and that's the last thing I need. With my brother gone and the whole school knowing that I freaked out over it... This is not good for my image." Ruth explained.

"Image? Who cares! You should be here to win, not to make people think you're cool."

"You have no room to talk, everyday you flaunt your stuff and brag about your recent hook-ups." she countered, pointing a finger.

"Look, I am just naturally awesome, and people just naturally like me." he smirked.

"You cocky bastard," she said under her breath.

"Let's just get you to the nurse."

* * *

><p>"Yup, torn cuff rotator," the nurse, Ms. Ingrid, said.<p>

Ruth resisted the urge to look at Devon. She didn't want to gave him the satisfaction of being right when he guessed her injury that morning.

"I suggest that you put heat and then ice, get some rest. Here is some medicine to take to help with the pain and swelling. Don't dance tomorrow unless the swelling is down, promise?"

Ruth mumbled a "yes."

The end of the hour was over and the bell rang. "End of the day, kiddies. Don't get into much trouble." Ms. Ingrid said.

Ruth hopped of the table and sprinted out the door, leaving Devon in the dust.

* * *

><p>Lenny knocked on the Dancer girls's dorm door. "Yeah?" Aubrey opened it. "Oh, hey, I'll go get Ruth." she yelled for Ruth and Ruth climbed off her bed.<p>

"Oh Lenny! Oh my goodness, are those for me?" Ruth hugged his neck and then looked back at the bouquet of wildflowers he held in his hand.

"There is a patch of orchids, daisies, and Queen Anne's Lace outside of the MI classroom. I thought of you." he kissed her nose and handed them to her.

"You are so perfect," she whispered. "Hey, come on in while I find a vase for them." she grabbed Lenny's hand and pulled him into the girls dormitory.

The dancer girls ooh-ed and ahh-ed when the boy walked into their room. He awkwardly waved and smiled at them.

Felicity (who was the orange-haired girl that Devon smiled at during Lyrical Dance practice), went up to Lenny.

"Hey, Lenny, right?" she asked. He nodded. "I just wanted to say that you and Ruth are the cutest couple here."

"Oh, um, thanks," he smiled.

"How long have you two been dating?"

"20 days today."

"Have you two ever... Ya know... done it?" she asked, trying to find other ways to ask the question.

"You mean sex?" he asked quietly.

The girls hung unto everyone of his words. Felicity nodded eagerly.

"Well, no. I mean, we have only been dating for almost three weeks. We would like to wait for the right time. But even if we had, it would honestly be none of y'alls business." he looked up and Ruth was walking towards them. She pushed through the crowd of girls.

"Ready to go down for dinner?" she smiled, slipping her hand into his.

He nodded and then saluted the girls that were still crowded around them.

* * *

><p>Winnie walked down to the dining hall and sat with the singers. After roll for dinner was taken, she would usually go sit with the actors and talk with Sam. Sam was her best friend here. There was noting romantically between him, just friendship.<p>

"Winnie Crane! Please report to Headmistress Adams's office." an announcement rang out through the school.

Winnie swallowed and slowly stood up. All eyes were on her as she calmly walked out. Her heart was beating hard against her chest.

She made it to the giant double doors that resided on the seventh floor. Headmistress's office was the only thing that was on the 7th floor. There was an eighth floor and and a sixth floor, but just one piece of floor space on the seventh. She walked out of the elevator and looked at the gold plague that hung down in front of the doors.

**_Headmistress Adams_**  
><strong><em>2000-2012<em>**

She gulped and pressed the red button on the side of the wall. A camera moved to her face and asked her name.

A few seconds later the doors opened and Winnie walked in. Her palms were sweating.

"Winnie Crane?" Headmistress's voice asked. She was sitting behind a giant desk in a big brown leather chair. There was no light in the room, save the small desk lamp on her desk. There were curtains that covered the walls, but none were opened.

"Have a seat please."

Winnie sat. "Please miss, why am I here? Did I do something wrong?"

"Oh no sweetie. We just want to ask you a couple of questions about your friend Sam. He seems to have disappeared."

* * *

><p><strong>Review please! Oh, and this is the new and updated list of who I'd imagine to play the characters:<strong>

**Winnie: Kayla Ewell**  
><strong>Ruth: Bella Heathcote<strong>  
><strong>Winnie: Skyler Samuels<strong>  
><strong>Lenny: Max Theriot<strong>  
><strong>Devon: Andrew Garfield (a younger version, but still looks the same)<strong>  
><strong>Sam: Kevin G. Schmidt<strong>


	5. Chapter 5 Everytime You Lie

Chapter Five  
>Every-time You Lie<p>

Ruth had been up for a couple hours before the Wake Up Call sounded. She had been sitting on her bed with her knees pulled to her chest, thinking. Her Berrie binged.

"Rumour has it that today marks Lenny and Ruth's one month anniversary. Hopefully the two lovelies haven't forgotten. I know I haven't."

Bridget (an actress) hosted a Gossip site on the Berrie, totally authorized by the Headmistress of course. Bridget sold the idea to Ms. Adams saying that once the last person resides in this academy, they will gain immediate success; therefore, they should start getting used to gossip and rumours. But everyone knows that Bridget just has a big mouth.

Ruth tousled her bangs and hopped out of bed. All the other female dancers were groggily searching through their suitcases for clean underwear and tights. Ruth pulled her outfit out and ran to the shower to take advantage of the hot water. She wanted nothing to ruin this perfect day.

* * *

><p>"Oops," Devon giggled. Ruth's hands flew up and she looked at him, open-mouthed. His morning oatmeal had spilled all over her when his tray "accidently" flipped up.<p>

"It's okay Ruth, I forgive you. I didn't even need the calories." Devon shrugged and walked off with his buddies.

Ruth threw her hands down and stormed off to the giant doors that held everyone in while they ate.

"Sorry, no leave till bell ring." the Watcher at the door sounded like a Russian robot.

"Hello? Oatmeal?" she gestured to her soiled uniform.

"No can do."

"Look Chevy Chase, today is my one month anniversary with my boyfriend and I need everything to be perfect. This outfit is not perfect. I suggest you move."

The Watcher stood his ground.

Ruth balled her fists into small circles of rage, but then a pair of strong arms circled around her waist from behind, making her turn around.

"Ruth, happy one mo... Oh." Lenny looked at his oatmeal covered woman.

"Devon," they both said. Lenny said it as more of a question, whereas, Ruth said it like a snake might spit venom.

Lenny's continuous smile turned into a chuckle.

"What is so funny?" Ruth demanded to know. "I'm covered in slime and this... this- this troll," she gestured to the Watcher, "Won't let me change."

"You're so cute," Lenny kissed her nose.

Ruth glared. Lenny grabbed her hand led her to the Dancer table. He held her hand while spooning raspberry oatmeal into his mouth.

* * *

><p>Devon wasn't eating anything (shocker!) and kept stealing glances at Ruth, who was trying to pull oatmeal out of her hair. She was biting down on her bottom lip, concentrating at a specific clump in her hair. Devon was mesmerized for a couple of seconds, watching her bite down on her lip a little harder as she got closer to releasing the oatmeal in that certain strand. He stared too long and his friend, Mike, kept saying his name. Mike finally just gave him a little slap on the cheek that took him out of his trance.<p>

"Dude- wha..?" Devon glared.

"You were staring at her again."

"Staring at who? There is no one here worth staring at. And what do you mean 'again'?" he made air-quotes around the word, "again".

"Ruth, you dumb a-"

"I've gotta go," Devon mumbled.

* * *

><p>After breakfast, Ruth walked Lenny to his first class. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he around her waist.<p>

"See you in an hour," she leaned up to kiss him. They held the kiss for a couple seconds.

"I love you," Lenny whispered once they broke the kiss.

Ruth froze.

She looked into his eyes so see if there was a mocking or joking look to them. They were serious.

Ruth hugged him quickly and then turned the other way, hugging her books closely to her chest.

* * *

><p>"So... I just hugged him."<p>

"Right after he said he loved you? Honey... Do you know anything about relationships? If he says he loves you, you need to say it back. Especially if you two have been dating for as long as you have." Ruth's friend, Diana consulted her in Contemporary class.

"I don't need to do anything," Ruth argued. "And it's only been one month, that's not very long."

Their Berrie's binged.

"Rumour has it that the two sweethearts of the day are in a bit of a pickle. Lover Boy Lenny has told Ruth that he loves her. Will Head Over Heals Ruth return the favor tonight, because as far as we know... She hasn't told him she loves him! No pressure, Ruthie ;)"

It was Bridget's gossip column.

"Seriously?" Ruth asked herself. Diana shrugged an apology.

"How could she know this? Lenny hates telling people about his personal life."

"At least you're in the news, I feel like creating a scandal just so people know my name." Diana stood up from stretching and walked to her spot as Ms. Tara walked into the room.

"Please, get together with your partners and go practice your piece in the rooms back there." Ms. Tara gestured to the cluster of doors in the back of the room.

Ruth craned her neck for Dan, her partner, but couldn't find him. She stepped forward.

"Ms. Tara... I can't seem to find Dan."

The teacher looked over her roll and nodded. "Yep, just as I thought. I believe he got expelled right after your brother did. I'm sorry about that by the way, but there was so much commotion about Sam leaving that day, I guess Dan's leaving notice got lost amongst the posts on the Insider."

Ruth frowned, "Am I supposed to do this dance by myself?"

"Well, I guess that's one of the sad things about people leaving this school. I'm sorry Ruth."

Devon stepped forward, "I don't actually know if you remember, Ms. Tara, but I am doing my dance by myself. I would gladly take Ruth in to create a fantastic team."

Ruth's face paled, she silently prayed that Ms. Tara would decline his offer.

"Wonderful offer, Devon! Ruth, pair up with Devon please."

Girls (and a few boys) all around the room watched in envy as Ruth walked over to join Devon.

"Is that okay with you, Ruth?" Ms. Tara asked her.

Ruth looked up at Devon, "Yeah is it alright with you?" he whispered to her.

It took all that Ruth had in her not to elbow his ribs when he put his arm around her.

"Sounds lovely." she said.

Ms. Tara clapped her hands, "Disperse!"

Devon offered his arm to Ruth and she ignored it. They walked in silence to the door labeled "Innocence by Avril Lavigne". He opened the door for her.

"Why wouldn't we do my song?" Ruth questioned.

"Because you don't have a room with your song labeled on it, now get in."

"How do you know? There are rooms all around this wall, you can't see all of them."

"Oh my gosh Ruth, look. I snuck in here this morning after breakfast with a girl, okay? We had sex, okay? We did it in many of these different rooms, okay? None of them were labeled with you song, okay?" Devon was now impatient.

"Ruth. Devon? Is there a problem?" Ms. Tara asked from the front of the room.

Ruth walked into the room without saying anything. Devon winked at the teacher and she blushed.

* * *

><p>"Len! Bro, I heard you got dissed this morning." Randy said, slapping Lenny on the back in MI. Since the weeks had gone on, all the MI had grown closer together.<p>

"I didn't get dissed, I just said some things too soon. How did Bridget know about that? Seriously, I think that girl has hidden cameras on everyone." Lenny set his head in his hands.

"Dude, you do realize the impact those 8 letters can have on a girl, right?" Randy asked.

Before Lenny could answer, their teacher walked in and they picked their instruments up to clean.

* * *

><p>"Aw, this is cozy," Devon inquired after shutting the door to their new practice room.<p>

"You should know, apparently you had sex in here," Ruth mumbled setting her stuff down.

The room was long enough for five ballerinas to do pirouettes in. The walls were covered with mirrors and a bar was set along one wall.

Ruth turned away from Devon and pulled her sweatpants down so that she was wearing her form-fitting black dance shorts. She walked to the bar to stretch herself out.

Devon watched her without realizing it.

Ruth set her left leg over her head with her right one bent over the bar, she noticed Devon. "Enjoying the view?" she asked innocently.

Devon rolled his eyes immaturely. "Haven't you already stretched? I saw you with that chick with the extensions."

"I didn't finish, and her hair is real, idiot." She set her left leg down, toes pointed and straightened out her right leg on the bar.

"Well, hurry up. We need to choreograph your part and fast. The performance is in three days, I'm gonna have to completely re-think what I was doing for this dance." Devon said.

"Don't complain. You wanted me, remember?" she took her leg off the bar and looked at him.

A rush of adrenalin pulsated through Devon. When she stared at him, he felt that she could see into his soul. Call it juvenile, but he was scared. It was like he was naked in front of her and she could see every scandal he had encountered. She could see and feel every hurt he ever felt.

But she couldn't.

Devon stared.

A few seconds later, he could feel a blush rising up so he broke eye contact.

Ruth smirked and set her leg back on the bar.

Devon took a deep breath and then went to the back of the room and pressed play on the iPod that sat in the dock. The first few bars of the piano played to "Innocence".

He stepped forward and grabbed her waist in one long stride, lifting her from the bar, and holding his hand to her leg to keep it straight.

"Devon, what the-"

"Shut up and dance," he growled.

_"This innocence is brilliant_  
><em>I hope that it will stay<em>  
><em>This moment is perfect<em>  
><em>Please don't go away"<em>

After the second chorus rang out, Devon held Ruth above his head, over his back, and then down in front of him, she was huddled over with her legs tucked into her stomach. He set her on the ground, her right leg setting under her left one; she was hunched over, resembling a broken person.

Contemporary is a type of dance that tells a story, more prominent than any ballet could. Usually a love story comes out of it, and it makes years to prefect the perfect love story from a contemporary dance to a song.

Devon took a step back from behind her and surveyed the position she was in. Ruth was playing such a vulnerable character in this dance, and damn, she did it well. He liked this... this place of power he was in. He had regained it back after losing it a minute ago when she was on the bar.

"Devon! Stay with it!" she yelled, snapping him out of his trance.

He walked over to her and lifted her up from her armpits; she straightened her legs and held one of her arms up, the tips of her fingers dancing on Devon's palm that he held over her head. She walked back in forth in a swift motion in only the small space that he offered from where his hand was above her.

_"This innocence is brilliant_  
><em>I hope that it will stay<em>  
><em>This moment is perfect<em>  
><em>Please don't go away<em>  
><em>I need you now."<em>

The last bit of the last chorus sang out and they looked down at the position they found themselves in. Ruth faced him, pressing herself up against him with her left leg bent over his shoulder, her back arched and her right leg straight down, her feet pointed, toes barely scraping the ground. They were holding hands a couple inches from his chest to keep her balanced.

Ruth elegantly moved her leg from off his shoulder and let go of his hands. She took a step back and they panted, not looking at the either one.

"I- I'm- I think I'm going to go to the bathroom." she whispered.

Devon held his hands on his hips and looked at the ground, trying to catch his breath. Light traces of sweat made his cotton navy blue tank top cling to his chest and stomach muscles.

Ruth scampered out of the small room into the bigger room that held the bathroom.

Devon fell down to the ground on his hands and knees, trying to catch hold of reality. His head was spinning and twirling, trying to remember all the moves they had done together. For Devon, dancing with Ruth was more pleasurable than anything he had ever experienced. Better than any sex he had ever had, definitely. Dancing with her left him breathless and motionless. Those three minutes and fifty-three seconds held more passion than he had ever known.

Their bodies fit perfectly together, something that had never happened between him and another dancer. They were precise, timed, and perfect dancers together. Perfect dancers should stay together. He didn't even think during that dance, he just reacted to her body movements and they fit together like puzzle pieces.

Devon crawled over to the mirrored-wall and sat on his butt in front of it. He cursed under his breath when the bell rang.

He reached for his wet towel to cool himself off. That had to be the quickest hour ever.

* * *

><p>Ruth splashed her face off with water from the rusty sink and looked at herself in the mirror. <em>What the crap was that?<em> She thought.

The bell rang and she felt insanely guilty. She felt like she had cheated on Lenny in some way.

Rut walked out of the bathroom and made her way back to Devon's and her practice room to gather her bags. Once she approached the door, it was swung open by none other than him. He didn't acknowledge her or even apologize for almost wacking her in the face. He just walked on with his head down, not making eye contact with anyone.

Ruth hastily grabbed her things and left the room.

* * *

><p>"Lenny!" he was suddenly grabbed into a bear-crushing hug from his over-enthusiastic girlfriend.<p>

"Ruth, hey-" he was cut off when she hooked her arms around the back of neck and brought his head down to kiss him full on the mouth. She was still in her black dancing shorts and tights but managed to pull her blouse on and buttoned it before leaving the dance studio.

"I'm." a kiss on the jaw.

"Sorry." a kiss underneath his chin

"For." tiny kisses trailing up toward his earlobe.

"Anything," this time it took all he had to not groan out loud when she started nibbling on the back of his ear.

He cursed softly into her ear before pulling himself away from her to push her against the wall next to the MI room. He put both of his hands on either side of her head, trapping her against him. The commotion of the students milling around went on, ignored by the couple.

Lenny set his head down and kissed her mouth tenderly, darting out his tongue to suck on the bottom lip that was swollen from how much she bit down on it.

Ruth snaked her hands to the top of his back underneath his shirt. She drew tiny 8's on it, making him breathe out in pleasure.

Lenny pulled his arms down from the wall and held her face with one hand while he kissed her neck, and the other hand held onto her hips as a finger went into her black dancing pants, pulling her closer to him.

Ruth looked over his shoulder and noticed the circle on onlookers. She bent her head down so that he was looked straight down at her. "Maybe we should... take this to my room," she whispered seductively.

"Huh?" he bent down lower.

She giggled, "Follow me," she grabbed onto his tie and pulled him with her until he was at regular pace with her.

* * *

><p>They looked around the Girl's Dancer Dormitories for any stragglers. It was lunchtime, so they figured everyone would be there, eating food.<p>

Ruth and Lenny jumped onto her bed. They sat across from each other, cross-legged. Ruth reached forward and closed the curtains to her four-poster bed.

Lenny looked at her for a second before grabbing her waist and pulling her onto his lap so that her back was to his chest. He pushed her long hair to the side and she tilted her head. He began trailing sweet kisses along her neck.

Rut chewed her bottom lip and smiled, the feeling was amazing.

Lenny reached over and slowly unbuttoned the first button to her blouse. He paused and looked at her sideways; she nodded for him to continue.

Lenny finished unbuttoning her blouse and threw it to the side, revealing her tank top that was too short for her torso. Ruth turned around and straddled his waist, pushing him to lie down.

She kissed his mouth and then bit his bottom lip before trailing smaller kisses down past his jaw and neck. He groaned.

Suddenly the door opened and Ruth held her hand over Lenny's mouth, motioning him with her finger to be quiet.

A girl hummed a tune to herself and what sounded like rummaged through her stuff. She continued humming and it got fainter as she walked farther away toward the bathroom.

_Taking a shower?_ Ruth thought. _At 12:30?_

"Love, if-" Lenny started.

"Shh, let me check the premises." Ruth smiled. She opened one of the curtains and looked around the room. She heard the shower turn on in the distance.

"By the looks of it, Farrah Genino just got in the shower, so we have 10 minutes." she whispered into his ear, lying on top of him. He grinned.

Ruth lifted her head and licked his throat with the tip of her tongue all the way down to the first button to his shirt. She squeezed her knees tighter around his waist to keep herself up as she bent over to unbutton his shirt. After each button was undone, she would kiss the spots where the buttons where.

Once the shirt had been discarded and Lenny was in his thin undershirt, he turned over so that he was now on top of her. He pulled his undershirt off and threw it at the wall her bed was pressed up against.

Ruth looked up at the thin figure above her. He wasn't as chiseled and sculpted at Devon, she couldn't help but compare, but he had strong abs and a muscular back with arms to match.

"I'm not much..."

"You're beautiful," she murmured running her hands up and down his chest.

Ruth sat up and pulled her baby tank top off, sitting in front of him now in only her black sports bra and tight dancer shorts. Her sports bra was tight as well and it pushed her breasts together, making them heave over with every deep breath she took.

Lenny could help but stare.

He lightly grazed the tops of them with shaky hands. Ruth closed her eyes and let go of the breath she had been holding. The cold air hit his skin and goosebumps formed all over him.

Lenny bit his lip and helped her up to her knees to slide off her pants and tights. Ruth pulled them off and then threw them to the side. She stayed on her knees and he bent down to kiss the outside of her thighs. He looked up to see her mouth parted and eyes closed. Her auburn hair was moving back and forth across her back and stomach. His kisses aimed higher to her hips, then to her navel which he stuck his tongue into. She doubled over but was quick to regain her balance.

Ruth pulled on his shoulders to raise him up so they were face to face. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. They kissed and their bodies moved against one another.

Suddenly, Lenny moved his fingers up her thigh and one finger entered the front of her thin underwear. She gasped and lost balance. They tumbled over the side of the bed, taking the curtain with them.

Lenny landed on his back and he groaned. Ruth fell on top of him. She was in her underwear and he still had his jeans on. Ruth looked down at him and started laughing, her nose resting against his cheek.

"Oh my," she smiled, kissing his cheek. She was straddling his waist just like she had been a couple minutes before, her white-underwear clad bottom in the air. She reached down and quickly unbuckled his belt.

But before she could pull it out of the belt loops, they heard someone in the room clear their throat and they froze. They both turned their heads toward the door.

Devon was leaning against the huge door with his arms crossed, a huge smirk on his face.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Ruth said, the color draining out of her face.

* * *

><p>"What the crap! Devon, why are you here?" Ruth screeched.<p>

"I am waiting for my date to get out of the shower, but I think the better question is... what are you two doing? I have honestly never ended up in that kind of a position. Also... I'm pretty sure Lenny isn't allowed inside the Dancer dorm rooms."

"You aren't allowed inside the girls' dorms. Period." Ruth got up off of Lenny and then helped him up.

Devon surveyed the situation in front of him. Ruth was in her underwear. That's it. Sure, he had imagined the moment he caught her in that kind of a state a little differently, but he wasn't complaining. She was hot. And she was mad.

Even hotter.

Devon bit the right side of his bottom lip while looking her up and down. Lenny noticed.

"Hey dude, take your pervy eyes off her! Just go, no one wants you here. At least have the decency to let her change."

Devon looked up lazily at the tall blonde as if he forgot he was there. "Send Farrah to the common room whenever she gets out, will ya?" he gave them one last look before smiling and shaking his head and then opened the door and walked down the stairs to the common room.

"Ohhh... I am so sorry Lenny," Ruth said looking through her clothes for a clean skirt.

"It's not your fault. I wonder how long he was there, what a freak," Lenny said pulling his shirt onto his arms. "Didn't you look around the room once the girl came in?"

"Yeah, but I didn't see him. I'm guessing he came in later... and we just didn't hear it." Ruth straightened out her stockings. "Creeper," she muttered.

* * *

><p>Devon sat on the couch in front of the fire that never seemed to go out. He picked up the book someone left on the table and opened to a random page. He needed to get his mind off what he just witnessed.<p>

Now, while he would have loved to soak in every detail of the moment that just happened so that he could torture Ruth with it until the ends of time... he just couldn't.

He... he cared. Him. Devon. He cared that she was embarrassed. He cared that she cared that he saw her in her underwear. He didn't know why he cared... he never cared. Honestly, the only caring he ever experienced was when Aubrey's ex boyfriend was hitting her about a year ago. He didn't want his sister to get hurt.

It was hard to concentrate on the book. His mind kept wandering to Ruth. To how her thin underwear was pushed over to the right side, giving him a perfect view of her hip when she stood up. Of how her sports bra had gone askew and more of her left breast was exposed for him to see. Except that it wasn't for him.

Devon turned to the next page.


End file.
